The Phantom Pegasus
by ArabianPerfection
Summary: Burrana is a young Brumby from the low county. She has been hunted from birth by wranglers that wanted her for her pure white coat. Her speed has been her one saving grace. No horse in the low country has been able to match her speed and she quickly outruns any pursuer, but humans are clever and devised a way to catch her... (rest of summary inside)


**Rest of Summary: ... After Burrana is captured she is taken to an auction and sold to the highest bidder. The Man buys Burrana and takes her to the high country. Guess who's eye she catches?**

**This just popped into my head while I was watching The Silver Brumby TV series and I started writing. I know the title is kind of lame but once I name a story or character I get attached to the name. I apologize for the chapter being so short, hopefully the others will be longer but I won't really know till I actually write them.**

**I haven't really thought the story out in explicit detail so I would love some input and feel free to share any ideas you may have.**

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**Chapter 1**

A furied scream rang strong and clear through the cascades, startling the gang-gangs and sending them into a flurried flight. Thowra jerked his head up with a start, snorting in alarm. His herd did the same, looking around for the source of the sound. Storm and Boon Boon loped over to the young leader.

"Who was that?" Boon Boon cried, frightened by the intensity of the call.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Without another word, Thowra spun on his hind legs and galloped off to find the horse that had made the cry.

Boon Boon and Storm looked at each other before taking off after the swift colt. The trio found their way to a steep cliff, overlooking the valley near Dead Horse Hut. Down below, the Man on his black horse, Echo, and another man on a bay gelding were walking toward the hut. But what interested the three Brumbies was the snow white filly between them. She was wearing a rope halter with two lead ropes on it, one tied around the horn of the Man's saddle and the other tied around that of the bay horse. She was fighting them with what little energy she had left, pulling back, kicking, rearing, anything she could think off. Another angry scream ripped from her throat.

"Who is _that_?" Storm questioned in wonder.

As if on cue, the emus popped out from behind a cluster of bushes. "That's the wild Brumby, Burrana." "She's from the plains in the south." "I thought she was from the north, Mu?" "No, she was from the south. Defiantly the south, Eee." "Either way she's not so wild anymore. The Man owns her now."

"Are you two done?" At Thowra's irritated look the two birds shut up. He turned to the other horses. "We have to help her."

Storm, ever the voice of reason, protested. "Thowra are you crazy? You're lucky you got Golden. There's no way he'll let you take another one of his horses."

"Look at her, Storm. She wants to be free and she'll never stop fighting the Man until she is. I'm just helping her do that." Thowra argued, stomping the ground.

"Thowra's got a point, Storm. That filly is no slave. She's a wild Brumby as much as any of us." Boon Boon agreed, glancing down at the filly.

Storm sighed, knowing he would never be able to deter his stubborn brother. "Oh, alright. What do you have in mind?"

Thowra smiled when Storm relented and moved closer to the pair. "Okay here's what we're going to do…"

"Why did you waste your money on this crazy horse?" The Man's friend grunted to him as they struggled to tie the filly to a thick post in the center of the paddock.

When the filly was secured they leapt back and ran out of the paddock, slamming the gate shut. The white Brumby inside fought the wooden pole with everything she had, pulling back and striking it, but nothing worked. She finally gave up, tired and breathing heavily, and stood with her head low to ground. To say the filly was beautiful was an understatement in the least. Her milky white coat was flawless, her pale blue eyes shone with both gentleness and a terrifying fierceness. Her legs were long and clean cut, the bones strongly formed to withstand the rocky terrain of her homeland. A streamline body spoke of speed and agility for running across the flatlands.

"If anyone can catch that silver manned devil it's the Phantom Pegasus. She's as famous in the low country as he is up here in the high country." The Man smirked manically at the spirited Brumby.

His friend scoffed. "What makes you think you're going to even be able to get a saddle on her?"

"Any horse can be broken." The Man replied simply.

The two men said goodbye and the man on the bay horse headed back the way they had come. Back to the auction house. The Man tended to his horse before going to his hut to settle in for the night. Night fell quick upon the high country and soon the land was washed in darkness.

The white filly stood with her head hanging limply, a bucket of untouched oats sitting nearby. She would never eat the food of a tame horse. At the sound of soft hoof falls her head rose to see a young brumby at her paddock fence. She tried to move forward to greet him, but hit the end of the rope, reminding her of her imprisoned state.

"Hello, I'm Thowra" The handsome, silver coated colt introduced himself, his voice soft and calm.

"I'm Burrana. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it was under better circumstances." The filly smiled at him, glad to be in the company of another wild Brumby.

"Don't worry; we're going to get you out of here." The mysterious horse promised her.

Burrana didn't have time to ask any questions before Thowra started up a commotion. He neighed and reared, striking at her paddock. The light of the hut flashed on and the Man came scrambling out, a lasso clutched tightly in his hand. Thowra gave one finally whinny then canter off into the night. Confused and scared, Burrana started pulling back against the wooden post. The man quickly saddled up his black horse and took off after his prize.

As soon as they were out of sight, the sound of thundering hooves approached from the same direction Thowra had originally come. Burrana paused in her panic to see a herd of young brumbies coming her way. Two chestnut colts and a grey filly.

"We're here to help you. I'm Boon Boon, this is Storm and Arrow." The grey filly called out to her.

"_I'm_ going to save you." The lighter chestnut, Arrow, boasted vainly.

The other two rolled their eyes as Arrow got to work, kicking down the wooden boards. When he had enough down, Arrow entered the paddock and with a few well-placed kicks, he snapped the wooden pole in half, causing the rope to slip off.

Burrana gave a joyous whinny at her newfound freedom, touching her nose to Arrow's in thanks. Just then the Man came barreling back, crying out in fury when he saw his filly loose with the wild brumbies. The group turned and galloped off, but the Man did not follow, his horse too exhausted from the long chase after Thowra.

Burrana started at the back, but with three long strides she was galloping in the front next to Boon Boon. The small herd headed further up into the mountains. Arrow stared at the beautiful filly in front of him; she was just as much a prize as Golden was, if not more. He had to have her for his herd.

They stopped at the Crackenback River, where the four horses got a badly need drink, and were soon joined by Thowra.

"Are you okay Burrana?" Thowra asked the filly kindly.

Burrana opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by Arrow before she could say anything.

"Of course she is. I rescued her." Arrow stated proudly with a snort, his head held high.

The white filly rolled her eyes good-naturedly, before smiling at Thowra. "Yes, thank you. I'm fine now that I'm free again. How could I ever repay you?"

"You could join my herd. Run with us… but if you want to return to your homeland I understand."

Burrana smiled gratefully at the offer. "I would love to join you. Before I was captured I had been considering leaving to find my own home and new adventures."

Boon Boon chuckled. "Well, I can assure you there are plenty of adventures here."

The group laughed then touched noses with their new friend before they all cantered off to Thowra's secret valley.

"Hmm... so the new filly joined Thowra's herd. Interesting." Currawong pondered from his place in a nearby tree then took to the sky with a cry, heading toward the Brolga's territory.


End file.
